Question: As you like working with animals up close, do you know what a penguin's daily routine is and if they have a diseases which can affect humans?

Iain Staniland answered on 6 Nov 2018:

I have worked up close with Penguins and they are fascinating birds, great fun. I could just sit and watch them for hours.
Their daily routine depends on the time of year but when they are raising chicks they have to work very hard. If the chick is small one parent has to stay on the nest to protect the chick from other animals that might want to eat it (Mostly birds like skuas, or giant petrels). The other parent goes to sea to catch fish and krill (shrimp like creatures). They then return to the nest and feed the chick by regurgitating (throwing up) the food they have eaten into the chick’s mouth, not the nicest way to get your dinner!
When the chick is bigger it can be left with others in what is called a Creche, then both parents can go to sea to bring back food. So at a lot of penguin colonies there is a morning and evening rush hour as the adult penguins head of to sea and return full of food.